And so it ends… 50 years later.
This is an interesting one. Apparently, it was largely written by the original author’s daughter with the first story an unpublished original and the rest based on ’notes among her mother’s possessions’. For the most part, it fits. And ending it all with a party celebrating the titular Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle?
I like it.
Somehow, Mrs. Piggle-Returned. And the complete lack of any mention of her farm is just about as weird as when Star Wars did it. Add to that another complete reliance on random magical pills and powders… this one is also not my favorite, although I prefer it slightly to [[Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic]].
See Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for my thoughts for the series as a whole.
My thoughts for the series as a whole are on the review for Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
For … reasons, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle has moved out of town to a farm. Here, she takes the problem children and uses (farm style) household chores in order to help them be better.
It actually really works–and is so much less likely than [[Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Magic]]. I think this might actually be my favorite. It’s weird, writing this out, to realize how relatively few stories this one had though.
My thoughts for the series as a whole are on the review for Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Really, if I’d only read that book and this one, I don’t know if I would have continued the series.
In the first, we have fairly mundane and reasonable solutions to realistic childhood issues. In this one–straight out magic. I’m not a huge fan, especially with the tonal shift. But I do really like Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm and (perhaps surprisingly) Happy Birthday, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, so I’m glad I continued.
That being said, this one does have some fun moments (the Tattletales, Lester the pig with his table manners), so it’s not all bad!
The Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books are an interesting sort of children’s tales. Throughout the books, we’re introduced to familys with strange names, where always and without fail, the children are in some way, shape, or form misbehaving. One thing leads to another, their mother1 is at her wit’s end, and… they call Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and she saves the day.
Originally published 1947-1957, the first four books are very much a product of their times. The family dynamics, the problems the children have, and even some of the (less magical) solutions. Yet a lot of the problems ring true, even today.
We’ve been listening to the 4 of the 5 books we’ve found audiobooks for in a somewhat random order. Mostly, the order doesn’t matter. Each story is fairly self contained–with the exception of book 3: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s farm, in which she’s moved out of town. Except in book 4, she’s back and no mention is made ever again. Anyways.
The last, published in book 5, actually fits fairly well with the first 4, despite the fact that it was published 50 years later by MacDonald’s daughter. Honestly, on just listening to them, it didn’t feel all that different.
I think the main decider on if I’d like a particular story or not depended entirely on how magical the solution was. While they’re all somewhat unbelievable (a day or two staying up late curing a TV addiction? sure), I like the ones with a practical solution. In particular, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle (1), her Farm (3), and Happy Birthday (5) are my favorites. Conversely, her Magic (2) and Hello (4) are much more about magical pills and tonics that miraculously solve problems–not particularly applicable that, even if they are fun to read about.
Overall, they’re a lot of fun to read/listen to and I don’t expect they’ll go away any time soon.
Walking through Harlem first thing in the morning was like being a single drop of blood inside an enormous body that was waking up. Brick and mortar, elevated train tracks, and miles of underground pipe, this city lived; day and night it thrived.
At first, it’s a story about a black man in the boroughs of New York in the 1920s. A gritty world, but somehow alive, dripping with some wonderfully written descriptions of the people and places of the time.
And then…
The Sleeping King is dead but dreaming.
Things take a somewhat supernatural turn.
This is another of those cases where I put a book on my ’to read’ list because it looked interesting and, before getting around to it, completely forgot it was going to be about.
By the end… that took a much darker track than I was expecting1… and that’s starting from the point of view of racial disparity and violence in the 1920s.
And then… things get even darker. But I’ll leave that for you to read.
Nobody ever thinks of himself as a villain, does he? Even monsters hold high opinions of themselves.
Overall, it’s short. ~150 pages or a few hours audio. But I think it does a good job of hitting hard without overstaying it’s welcome. If you’re a fan of cosmic horror / weird fiction, I think you’ll like it. I certainly did.
Onward!
I probably could have looked up my review of The Changeling, also by LaValle. I said much the same thing there. 😄 ↩︎
Here we go again, dealing once again with bad decisions made long ago coming back to bite those who made them… and anyone else that might be standing nearby.
Of course it’s up to Jack and Thorgil to go on ANOTHER QUEST. And once again, save the day.
I’d guess that you have some purpose to fulfill and that is why you were saved. But don’t get a swelled head over it. A cabbage has a purpose when someone needs to make soup.
We get all sorts of interesting new beasties, friends, and enemies (sometimes all three). Chief among them are the Mermen and Mermaids, but also more half-trolls and even (perhaps) a god along the way, which was a take I’ve seen before, but interesting to see here.
Gods, if they’re neglected, tend to fall asleep, but they never really go away.
The cultural classes and worldbuilding, being based on our own (messy) world and history are interesting gone truly magical are still interesting and (so far as I know anyways) well researched. A joy to read.
I like seeing more of what happens to our characters, even if the ending is a bit bittersweet.
I remembered what Olaf always said: You must never give up, even if you’re falling off a cliff. You never know what might happen on the way down.
Overall, I’d say it’s stronger than the second, but not quite up to the level of the first in the series. Overall, I enjoyed the series and hope to share it with my children, perhaps in a few years.
Onward!
“You’d better tell me about that lie, Giles," said the old man, massaging his forehead. “From all the sin you keep going on about, I’m sure it’s going to be spectacular.”
Well… when you put it that way.
A year has passed. Jack learns family secrets and has to go on ANOTHER QUEST. I’m actually curious to see if the backstory we get here was planned all along or developed from clues in the first book only when a second was need. It really could go either way.
This time, we see elves (meh) and hobgoblins (lots of fun). Along the way, we end up with another new main character: Pega. Former slave, freed by Jack, and fond of commenting on ‘how it all could be worse’. She’s fine… but not as interesting as Thorgil, personally. (We get both though!)
It’s another adventure through the magical land of alt ~800 AD British Isles. Weaker than the first, but still absolutely solid enough that I enjoyed reading it. Onward to the thrilling (I hope!) conclusion in The Islands of the Blessed!
Well that’s a surprisingly fun book!
In a nutshell:
The year is A.D. 793; Jack and his sister have been kidnapped by Vikings and taken to the court of Ivar the Boneless and his terrifying half-troll wife; but things get even worse when Jack finds himself on a dangerous quest to find the magical Mimir’s Well in a far-off land, with his sister’s life forfeit if he fails.
I started out reading this since it’s a great (and rare) fit for the 2024 Book Bingo ‘Bard’ square, since both Jack and his mentor are explicitly called ‘Bards’ (even if, interestingly music is a relatively small part of their training), but it ends up being so much more.
It’s got Vikings–including digging into what makes them who they are and how they think differently from the people Jack grew up with.
Just say no to pillaging.
It’s got monsters–the Vikings for one, along with Trolls (sometimes more human that anyone), dragons, ravens, and giant spiders.
“Norns keep the tree Yggdrassil alive. Without them, nothing would exist… They show up when you’re born and decide what kind of life you’re going to have."
“I guess they were in a rotten mood when I came along,” Jack said. He loaded up the water bag and supplies.
“Me too,” Thorgil said gravely.
Look around you…Feel the wind, smell the air. Listen to the birds and watch the sky. Tell me what’s happening in the wide world.
It’s got magic. Bardic magic. Shapeshifting. Talking to animals. Calling up / banishing storms. Norse mythology. Norns. Yggdrasil.
“It’s my fault," said Rune. “He’s untrained and likely to overdo things.”
“Like turning the queen bald. That was a good trick, though.” Olaf smiled.”
I’ve absolutely no idea if it’s particularly historically accurate (barring the above of course :)), but it’s a fun read and I greatly enjoyed it. Now I really want to know what happens next!
Side note: Great fun for an audiobook, lightly accented. Just enough to get into the feel of the book all the more!
Second side note: I totally caught the Jack and Jill reference from when we first learned her birth name. But man. Them just outright using that as an in universe poem was fun.